Gone but not forgotten
by hootnbutte
Summary: Nathan has a mission - to end the troubles for good.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Haven. It is owned by Sam Ernst, Jim Dunn and Syfy. The song printed below is 'From Where You Are' by Lifehouse.

Author's notes: Set after the events of episode 03X13. I just needed to write something as we wait for Season 4. This fic revolves around Nathan. Right now I'm planning for this to be a multi-chapter fic; we'll see how it goes. Feedback is appreciated.

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**The aftermath**

The barn disappeared and Nathan just stood there in shock, in despair. He kept thinking about how he had failed Audrey. Failed to keep her from going into the barn; failed to keep her safe. He couldn't move; he just didn't know what to do next. Should he stay there in case the barn came back, should he go back to town? And do what?

Dwight, Vince and Dave were waiting down by the dock for Nathan and Duke to come back down, but quickly realized something was wrong when they had seen a flash of light from where the barn was and yet the meteorites continued pummelling Haven.

The three of them quickly walked back up the hill to find Nathan standing there. "Nathan" Dwight yelled, but Nathan didn't move as if he hadn't heard Dwight.

Concerned, they hurried towards him and by this time Vince is beside Nathan. "What happened, Nathan? Where's Duke?"

Nathan turns towards Vince, but it's almost as if he's not seeing him. "Gone, into the barn."

"Nathan, look at us, tell us what happened, the barn disappearing it's never disappeared like that before. Why did Duke go into the barn?"

"He has to protect Audrey, I couldn't do it."

Nathan takes a deep breath and seems to come out of his haze, enough at least to explain what happened.

"Audrey went into the barn, I tried to follow and when I couldn't get in, I turned my gun on Howard. Jordan showed up and shot me; I had to try and save Audrey, I shot Howard. Duke shot Jordan. The barn started collapsing into itself. Arla was sucked into the barn and I think Jordan was too. I couldn't move; I had to get Duke to go into the barn to save Audrey."

Dwight reaches for Nathan's jacket, "let me see where Jordan shot you" Nathan starts to pull his jacket off and cringes from the pain; he can feel again. It's the last thing he realizes before he collapses from the shock and blood loss.

"Oh no, we need to get him to the hospital, quickly" comments Dave. Dwight picks Nathan up and the three of them make their way down to the dock and back to Haven as quickly as they can.

**The Hospital**

_There is a little boy playing with some toy cars on a kitchen floor, a woman has her back to the little boy; she is at the kitchen counter preparing dinner. The woman looks familiar. Somewhere else in the house, a door slams, the woman stiffens at the sound and the little boy looks up towards the woman with a scared look on his face._

Nathan abruptly wakes up with the remnants of this strange dream in his head; it takes him a minute to figure out where he is. The antiseptic smell and beeping sounds jar his memory. He's in the hospital and at first he's sure he doesn't feel anything and he is relieved – maybe the troubles didn't go away, maybe Audrey didn't go away, but then he starts to feel the coolness of the sheets, and the stiffness and pain in his shoulder and back. All of this is nothing but bad news. Audrey really is gone; he failed her and she won't be back for 27 years. His only comforting thought is that at least she's not alone this time, she has James and Duke with her and he knows Duke will do what he can to take care of her.

He lies in bed for a few minutes trying to recall as much as he can from before he woke up. He listens to the news report on the TV at the bed beside his - the meteors have stopped, rescue operations are underway; everything carries on.

He gets up, removes the IV from his arm and finds his clothes.

The doctor comes in, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Checking myself out." He winces as he pulls his shirt on over his shoulder.

"I wouldn't recommend that; you've lost a significant amount of blood and have been unconscious for two days"

Nathan starts at that comment. Two days. Two days since Audrey went into the barn, 27 years until she comes back. Nathan continues putting his shirt on. "I know the drill Doc; I'll fill in the usual forms to check myself out".

As he fills in the paperwork to be discharged, the doctor comes back over to him "Look I really advise against this, you need rest and probably someone to keep an eye on you for the next while, which we can do at the hospital. Nathan gives the Doctor a look that doesn't leave any doubt as to what he is going to do.

The Doctor relents, "Fine, just try and take it easy, those gunshot wounds were serious and need to be monitored. I'll give you some medication for the pain, you may not feel too bad now, but you will feel it later."

"Thanks Doc" and with that Nathan takes the medication, his valuables and leaves the hospital to catch a cab home.

**Home**

The cab drops Nathan off at his place and he's glad to see there isn't too much damage from the meteor storm; it looks like a few broken windows upstairs, nothing that needs to be dealt with immediately.

He lets himself in and heads to the kitchen. He looks at the pain medication the doctor gave him and shakes his head; this pain medication isn't going to help with the real pain he is feeling and he tosses the pills in the garbage. He grabs a bottle of Jack Daniels, walks into the living room and sits down on his couch. He takes a couple of swigs from the bottle - he just wants to feel numb and the quicker the better. He doesn't want to think about life without Audrey or even without Duke; he doesn't want to think about being alone again.

He takes another couple of swigs and waits for the liquor to start to take effect. He glances around the room and notices, by the fireplace, his old guitar. He hasn't played since his trouble came back. He used to love to play no matter what mood he was in. He stumbles over to the guitar and brings it back to the couch. He starts strumming some chords then starts singing.

So far away from where you are  
These miles have torn us worlds apart  
And I miss you, yeah, I miss you

So far away from where you are  
And standing underneath the stars  
And I wish you were here

I miss the years that were erased  
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face  
I miss all the little things  
I never thought that they'd mean everything to me  
Yeah I miss you and I wish you were here

I feel the beating of your heart  
I see the shadows of your face  
Just know that wherever you are  
Yeah I miss you and I wish you were here

I miss the years that were erased  
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face  
I miss all the little things  
I never thought that they'd mean everything to me  
Yeah I miss you and I wish you were here

So far away from where you are  
These miles have torn us worlds apart  
And I miss you, yeah I miss you  
And I wish you were here.

He stops playing. As amazing as the sensations are to be able to touch something, to be able to feel it; to play the guitar again, he would gladly give it all up to have Audrey back with him. Overwhelmed by all his emotions, he grabs the guitar by the neck and slams it against the fireplace again and again until the guitar is just pieces on the floor. The jarring motions pull on his injuries and he starts bleeding through the bandages, but he doesn't care. He continues to drink JD alone, in the dark, trying to figure out what he could have done differently. Eventually he passes out on the couch.

**To start over**

The next morning Dwight comes looking for Nathan at the hospital and finds out that Nathan checked himself out. Nathan hasn't been to the Police station as Dwight has been keeping tabs on what is happening and he heads over to Nathan's place. While the town may be recovering from the meteor shower, the situation in the town is tense and the Chief of Police needs to help to calm people's fears otherwise things are only going to go from bad to worse.

Dwight lets himself into Nathan's house - it helps to be "the cleaner. He finds Nathan, passed out on the couch, the empty bottle of JD at his side. He tries to rouse Nathan but he doesn't respond. He pulls Nathan up and hauls him off to the shower. Dwight leans Nathan against the wall of the shower and turns on the cold water, stealing for what comes next. As soon as the water hits Nathan he starts fighting and swearing loudly "What the FU..., what the hell are you doing?"

"Just trying to sober you up" Dwight states.

"Who says I want to?" asks Nathan with anger in his eyes.

Dwight responds "I do."

Nathan quits struggling and looks at Dwight, "I failed her, Dwight.

"You did not fail her; you did everything in your power to keep her here. She knew that and deep down you know that too." Dwight continues, "look I understand what you are going through," says Dwight, "when I lost my daughter Lizzy, I struggled a lot like you are now, I know you're hurting and as much as I'd like to give you the time to mourn everything you have lost, Haven needs you, they need their Chief of Police to step up and take charge, it's what Audrey would want you to do - help the people of Haven."

Nathan wanted to argue, but he couldn't, Dwight was right. As much as he was hurting right now there were others in town that were going to be in much worse shape.

"I know you feel like everyone you trusted has left you, but you still have friends here Nathan and people that will support you. It's not going to be easy, but I'm here to help, anyway I can. Get yourself cleaned up and I'll go make you some coffee, I'm pretty sure you're gonna need it."

Nathan nods his head, but the struggle shows on his face. After Dwight leaves the bathroom, Nathan takes off his drenched clothing and has a hot shower to clear his head. For the first time in 3 years, he can feel the water on his body and soaks in the heat of the water. After he gets out of the shower, he stands at the sink, looking at all his scars in the mirror. From all the years with the troubles, he certainly has quite a few, some he recognizes and others he doesn't, but his eyes linger on two little scars on his chest, bullet wounds from the bolt gun killer. A reminder that if it wasn't for Audrey he would be dead - she didn't give up on him and saved his life and he's not going to give up on her or the town now. He's going to do everything in his power to figure this out how to end the troubles for good even if it is in 27 years. Audrey can have a life then if that life is with someone else. If he's really lucky maybe he'll figure out a way to get her back sooner and maybe he'll still have a chance with her.

Nathan grabs for his razor to shave, but thinks twice about it; maybe he'll just grow a beard for awhile, one less thing to worry about and he can shave it off when he figures out how to get Audrey back.

Nathan finishes getting dressed and heads downstairs where Dwight, as promised, has coffee waiting for him.

"So what's the plan?" Dwight asks.

"Head to the station, get things settled there, then we figure out how to end the troubles for good". Nathan asks Dwight directly "Are you with me on this?"

"100%" is Dwight's response, earning one of Nathan's lopsided half smiles that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

It's a start.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes: Set after the events of episode 03X13. I just needed to write something as we wait for Season 4. This fic revolves around Nathan. Right now I'm planning for this to be a multi-chapter fic; we'll see how it goes. Feedback is appreciated.

Sorry for the delay – life got in the way. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out within the next week

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**Chapter 2**

**Clean up begins****  
**  
Dwight drives Nathan over to the Grey Gull to pick up the Bronco. He'd left it there with everything happening while they were trying to keep Audrey out of the barn.

On the drive there, Dwight fills Nathan in on some of the things that have happened over the last few days. "Dave and Vince haven't had to do too much cover up on the "Troubles" in the newspaper, since right now everything can be blamed on the meteor storm. They included an article about Audrey and Duke being MIA so you shouldn't get too many questions about where they are." Nathan nods at this information, as his throat clenches with the ache that goes along with reminding him again that they are gone. "The troubles didn't go away after the barn disappeared, well actually, it did for some, but not for others and with all the anxiety from the meteor storm looks like even more are being triggered."

Nathan asks "Did yours go away?"

"No, bullets still love me just as much as always. From the way you reacted earlier, I'm assuming yours did though."

"Yes." Nathan didn't know what else to say – it was a lot to take in – some people kept their troubles, others went away and still more were being triggered. Why did his go away? If Audrey going into the barn was to make the troubles go away why didn't they all disappear? There was something there he just wasn't seeing it right now, so he filed it away to think about it when he had more time to think and fewer distractions.

"Nathan, there were some other things that happened outside of the barn when you were inside that you probably need to know." Dwight hesitated before continuing, with information he knew Nathan wouldn't be happy about. "Dave wanted to help figure out how to solve the troubles for good, how not to continually use Audrey for the sake of the town and Vince locked him in the trunk of his car to stop him. Vince wanted to leave things as they are, to at least rid the town of the troubles for 27 years. Turns out, Vince is the leader of the Guard."

"What?!" Nathan could feel the anger rising within him as his mind went in a million directions at once. All the time wasted trying to find out about the Guard and Vince could have just told Audrey and him what they needed to know. They knew about the barn long before Audrey did, if he had known they would have had more time to try and figure out how to keep her here not going down rabbit holes trying to get answers. Vince had even sent him to see Jordan rather than admit one of their precious secrets.

"Did Vince send Jordan to kill me so that Audrey stayed in the barn?" Nathan growled as he tried to keep his anger under control.

"No, Vince told the Guard members, including Jordan to leave when he showed up. He told them it was Audrey's choice if she would go into the barn. Vince and Dave were with me after we left you and Duke with Audrey. I'm pretty sure Jordan acted on her own accord; she was desperate to get rid of her trouble."

By then they had reached the Grey Gull. It was still standing, but most, if not all, of the windows were blown out in the restaurant. It looked like there was more significant damage upstairs where Audrey's apartment was/used to be. One wall had completely fallen in and the roof had a gaping hole. Nathan was torn, he wanted to take care of Audrey's place since she wasn't there to look after it, he wanted to get as far away from there as quickly as he could, away from the memories he would find here. He also needed to take care of Haven. After seeing the damage to the town on the drive over, the decision was really made for him, he knew he was needed elsewhere and had to get to the station, everything else was going to have to wait.

"Dwight, can you see about getting some wood to board up the windows on the Grey Gull and about doing something to protect Audrey's apartment until I can get back over to deal with it? And can you check Duke's boat?

"I'll take care of it. I'll check in with you later."

Nathan hops into the bronco and heads to the station. He tries to reconcile the information Dwight gave him about Vince being the head of the guard with the memories of Sarah's; memories of Vince and Dave trying to keep her out of the barn. If they cared about her as Sarah, how could they let her continue to sacrifice herself for the town? Couldn't they see what it did to her? And what about Lucy? Jordan had said that they had to force her into the barn. How did they do that?

The windows of the Police station were all broken or missing, but miraculously, it too is standing. The first thing Nathan does is grab Stan to get a status report. As they head to Nathan's office the few other police officers in the building acknowledge Nathan and tell him they're glad to have him back.

Stan does a rundown of where things are at. "Fire and rescue is working full out around town, putting out fires and rescuing injured or trapped residents. Luckily, the hospital wasn't severely damaged so serious cases can be handled there. If people are able to travel, they are being taken to Bangor or Portland. An emergency shelter has been set up in the high school for people whose homes were badly damaged or destroyed. Emergency supplies have been sent in by the State to ensure everyone has adequate drinking water and other necessities; that is being co-ordinated out of the high school as well. Work is underway to restore power in parts of the city and the water treatment plant just came back online, so the boil water advisory should be lifted shortly. Luckily there hasn't been too much looting, I think people are still in shock."

Nathan's impressed by everything that has been done while he was out of commission. "You've got a good handle on everything Stan, Thank you. Have you had any rest?" Nathan feels guilty for not being there to help but now is not the time to dwell on it.

"We've been taking breaks in the back room when we're able."

Nathan steers Stan back out into the bullpen, and as uncomfortable as he is speaking in public, he speaks to the officers that are there.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Everyone stops talking in the bullpen and pays attention to Nathan.

"I know you all have had a very difficult few days and I want to thank you for all your efforts so far, it is truly appreciated. It looks like things are starting to calm down a bit so I want you all to start taking longer breaks. Go home, see your family, get some rest. We'll try and do 16 hour shifts so that you don't all end up collapsing from exhaustion."

And then to Stan, "Stan, can you set up the roster and make sure you're one of the first people to take a break."

"Yes, Chief".

Nathan heads back into his office and starts making calls to the Fire chief, the building planners and others to see what support they need in their efforts so he can dispatch the police force accordingly.

Dwight shows up at the station and Nathan waves him into his office.

"I checked on Duke's boat, no issues, boarded up the windows at the Grey Gull and did what I could for Audrey's place. I also checked on your Dad's place. There were a couple of windows that needed to be boarded up, and a tree hit the side of the house, so you'll have to arrange to get that repaired at some point. Overall though, pretty minor damage. Oh, and I brought you some food. I figured you probably haven't had anything to eat."

"Thanks, I haven't even thought about food. And thanks for checking on everything. Do you mind sticking around for a bit? I have a meeting with the city planners and your services could be useful for the clean up."

"No problem".

Nathan quickly gulps down the food Dwight supplied.

During the meeting, Nathan learns that Haven didn't fare off as badly as he originally thought. Yes, there is a lot of structural damage, but only 10 people were killed, one of them being Thornton Aarons who was killed when a meteorite struck his house, and 300 injured. 7 people were listed as missing and presumed dead, but four of the names on the list were Audrey, Claire, Duke, and Jordan, so three of them were in the barn and Claire had been killed by Arla prior to the meteor storm. Between the city chiefs, resources are reallocated and Nathan sends Dwight off to see if he can help get power restored in parts of town that the city hadn't sent crews to yet and to keep and eye out for the "Troubles".

There was a constant stream of immediate policing issues for Nathan to deal with for the rest of the day, and finally when he sits back down at his desk it is well past 3 am, he is exhausted, his back and gunshot wounds hurt. There has been so much going on he hasn't really had time to notice until now. He rubs his eyes, leans back in his chair and closes his eyes for just a second.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

_There is a little boy playing with some toy cars on a kitchen floor, a woman has her back to the little boy, she is at the kitchen counter preparing dinner. She looks familiar. Somewhere else in the house, a door slams, the woman stiffens at the sound and the little boy looks up with a scared look on his face. The woman turns around quickly and tells the little boy to be a very good boy and be quiet. The woman looking down at the little boy is his mother.__  
_  
A knock at the office door Nathan jerks awake the vestiges of the dream still in his mind. He sits up and initially he doesn't feel stiff or sore from sleeping on his desk, but moments later he notices is he stands up he starts to feel stiff and sore. Great...it seems as if his trouble is short circuiting but he doesn't have time to dwell on that or the dream that seems more like a memory, but isn't one of his memories.

"Come in"

Dwight's comes in bringing with him breakfast "I figured you'd be here all night. Oh, and I brought a couple of friends with me too"

"Thanks again, better be careful, I could get used to dinner service." Since no one had directly followed Dwight into the office, Nathan asked "Who'd you bring with you?"

Vince and Dave walk tentatively into the office, both with their heads bowed and both look like they are ready to run just in case. They ask how Nathan is feeling, to which Nathan responds with his typical non-committal response.

"Why don't you guys have a seat?" Once the Teagues get settled, Nathan leans forward on his desk, towering over the two and with all the restraint he can muster starts in on Vince and Dave.

"Is there anything you two would like to share with me?"

Vince and Dave look at each other before looking at Nathan, which just winds Nathan up.

He looks directly at Vince. "Like the fact that you're the leader of the Guard. That all this time you could have shared information with Audrey that could have helped her figure out who she was and maybe even how she could stay out of the barn, but instead you kept secrets. Did you enjoy watching everyone run around in circles trying to find answers that you already knew?" Nathan was just getting warmed up. "You tried to control me with Ginger Danvers so that I would make sure Audrey went into the barn. When that didn't work did you send Jordan to kill me, just to make sure you would have 27 years without the troubles to hell with the consequences for Audrey or anyone else that doesn't fit in with your game plan?"

Nathan doesn't stop, he can't, the frustration has built up in him and needs an outlet. No one stops him either.

"And you Dave are you part of the Guard too? Is this all a big joke to you two, that you can sit back and watch as people's lives are torn apart? That I won't see Audrey and my son for 27 years, and even then they won't even know who I am." Dave and Vince looked stunned at this news and again glance at each other. "That's right, James Cogan, the Colorado kid, is my son, I barely got to meet him and then he was gone. I never got to be his dad". And with that, Nathan's anger turns to grief.

He sits down in his chair and puts his hands over his eyes as if the light is too much. He continues to talk, much more controlled now. "I know you two cared about Sarah, that you tried to keep her from going into the barn, we saw her memories when we were in that damn barn. And what about Lucy? Jordan said that the Guard forced her into the barn. Why would you do this, if you knew she was Sarah? Why didn't you keep trying to help her? You knew none of them wanted to go into the barn; you knew Audrey didn't want to go but she would sacrifice herself for this town."

Nathan has run out of steam at this point. Everyone just sits there for a moment, and then finally, Dave says "I'm sorry". And Vince continues "we both are. I promise you that Jordan acted alone, I would not have allowed anyone to hurt you, just as I made sure none of the Guard went after Duke." Dave picks up at this point, "We cared about Sarah, and we did try to keep her out of the barn." He pauses for a moment before continuing. "I don't begin to understand how you are James' father, but Sarah loved you. She always talked about how you swept her off her feet and how despite everything she trusted you. We tried not to be too involved this time - it gets complicated trying to tell people something before they are ready to hear it, that's what happened with Lucy, we knew right away that she was Sarah and told her about the barn and we tried to help her and James, but we still couldn't figure out how to stop it."

Vince picks up where Dave finished. "Lucy didn't have the connection to Haven that Sarah had. When the Colorado Kid was killed she wanted to hurt Haven for taking her son away and she was going to do that by running away. I'm sorry Nathan if you think this is cold, but this town means more to us than any one person, we couldn't allow the town to be destroyed because of one person's indiscretion."

Nathan stops him there. "An indiscretion? Someone apparently kills my son and it's an indiscretion?"

Dave leaned forward in his seat. "But this time it's different, the troubles aren't all disappearing, the meteors didn't stop right away, and with what happened at the barn, maybe we can find another way to bring them back sooner. Maybe the fact that you are James' father changes things. Maybe we can figure out a way to bring James and Audrey home to you."

Nathan didn't know if Dave was just telling him what he wanted to hear, but it didn't matter. If there was any way he could get Audrey back, get them all back he would take whatever lifeline was thrown his way.

"If the troubles didn't completely disappear when Audrey went into the barn and if the stress of the meteor storm is triggering all these new troubles, then Audrey is going to have to come back, isn't she? How troubled is Haven going to get before she would need to come back?"

Nathan stops his musings. Dave and Vince stand up, "we'll go back to our office and check through our files and try and see if there is a pattern to the troubles when both Sarah and Lucy were here.

Dwight stands up as well. "I'll check around town and keep an eye out for any trouble."

With that everyone disperses. Nathan quickly eats the breakfast Dwight brought for him and finds an extra shirt in the drawer of his filing cabinet to change into since he slept in his current clothes all night. While he doubts that Dave and Vince will be completely forthcoming, at least they seemed willing to help and he's feeling a bit better now that he has a lead to follow to try and get Audrey, Duke, and James back sooner.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Vince and Dave head back to The Haven Herald right after meeting with Nathan.

"So what do you think about Nathan being the Colorado Kid's father?" Vince asks tentatively.

"You mean that he was with Sarah. It certainly explains some of her comments back when she was here. Maybe it does mean there is a chance of stopping this cycle forever."

Dave avoided what Vince was really asking, and continued.

"I think we have a more immediate problem than that anyway" Dave replies. Vince looked at his quizzically.

"He went into the barn again, he's going to remember."

Vince registers what Dave is telling him "oh, no, that's bad. Do we tell him?"

"No, he'll find out soon enough."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Later that afternoon, after dealing with the usual work around the office, Nathan receives a call from Dwight.

"Nathan, we're going to need you down at 345 Halton Street right away. Oh, and when you get here - don't enter the house, just call me back."

"I'll be right over." It was an odd call but then again this was Haven and Nathan was glad to have a reason to get out of the station for a bit.

When he arrived at the address Dwight had given him, he noticed there was also an emergency vehicle in addition to Dwight's truck but no one seemed to be around. He gave Dwight a call. "Ok, I'm here, where are you? He asked. Dwight responded "I'm in the house, but if you come in you'll end up floating to the roof, like everyone else in here."

"Ok, so what exactly are we dealing with?"

"It seems that Billy Jensen is in here trapped under some rubble in the kitchen, but we can't get to him. As soon as we entered the house we all just floated to the ceiling. Billy's only six and he's pretty scared".

Nathan thought for a moment, "Dwight, do you still have your crossbow in your vehicle and some rope?"

"Yes, it's in the back of the truck, rope should be right beside it. What are you planning on doing?"

"Getting Billy out." Nathan started pulling together what he needed, hoping this would work. Audrey was always so good at talking down a troubled person, she always knew how to connect, but she wasn't here and now he was going to need to step up. With that Nathan grabbed to crossbow, tied the rope to the end of one of the arrows. He shot the arrow through the front door and the arrow lodged in the back wall, close to the kitchen and hopefully Billy. He then tied the other end of the rope to the Bronco. He then started walking into the house, holding onto the rope, hoping the arrow would stay secure in the far wall. As soon as he was within the walls of the house, he started floating, he was holding onto the rope so he ended up with his feet floating above his head. An odd experience to be sure. Walking his hands along the rope he made to where Billy was.

"Hey Billy, I'm Chief Wuornos,how are you doing? It looks like you are kinda stuck there. We've come to try and get you out."

"I'm scared, I want my mom."

"Its okay Billy, everything is going to be fine. Do you remember what happened? "

"The meteors came, and I didn't like them exploding around me, and then the table and stuff fell on me. My mom went upstairs and I called and called to her but she didn't come down. I'm scared, I didn't want any more meteors to fall on the house. Meteors aren't supposed to fall on our houses are they? Billy said between sobs.

Nathan continued talking to Billy in soothing tones, "No Billy, meteors aren't supposed to fall on houses. So Billy is your mom still upstairs?"

"I don't know, I called and called to her, but she didn't come. I'm scared."

Nathan looked up at Dwight to see if he knew anything. Dwight just shrugged his shoulders. That's what Nathan was afraid of; they hadn't seen the mother and had no idea what shape she might be in.

"It's ok Billy, I know you're scared. The paramedics are going to find your mom and then we will get you and your mom out of here, ok? I'm going to stay here with you while they get your mom, but you need to calm down so that we can help, do you think you can do that?" Nathan reached out his hand to the little boy, hoping he would take his extended hand. Billy nodded and hesitantly reached for Nathan's hand. With that, the boy seemed to calm down. "That's it Billy, hold onto me, I'm not going anywhere. Everything is going to be fine." Nathan really hoped that what he was saying to Billy came to pass. Slowly he could feel his legs start to drop down towards the floor, and Nathan knew he had gotten through to Billy at least for a bit. He glanced around and saw the other rescue workers and Dwight were drifting back to the floor. The paramedics made it upstairs in search of Billy's mom and the Dwight came over to help get Billy out from under the furniture. Nathan didn't let go of Billy's hand the whole time, knowing Billy needed that contact to stay calm. Luckily, Billy only had some minor scrapes and bruises. The other EMTs brought down Billy's mom. She was alive, but unconscious and had some broken bones. Her vitals were stable; however, they needed to get her to the hospital

"Billy, your mom is going to be fine. The EMTs are going to take you and your mom to the hospital to be taken care of and I need to help some other people, is that okay?" Billy nodded, and only then did Nathan take his hand away from Billy, putting Billy's hand on his mother's arm.

The ambulance left with its passengers, and Nathan turned back to the scene around him. Dwight, always the cleaner, was over talking to the rescue workers, discussing about how some of these meteors obviously have a very strong magnetic concentration causing these weird circumstances. Nathan shook his head and smiled at how people would believe anything as long as it wasn't a "trouble". He understood it actually since that was what he had done when his trouble first came back.

It was late afternoon by this time, so Nathan gave a call to the station "Laverne, anything happening around town I need to know about?"

Laverne spoke in her usual manner "Nathan, hun seems to be pretty quiet right now".

"In that case Laverne, I'm headed home in case anyone needs me."

"Ok Luv, get some rest we'll see you tomorrow."

He gave Dwight a nod and headed home. He needed to start trying to figure out how to get Audrey back.

Nathan arrived home and headed to the kitchen with the take out he had grabbed on the way home. A bottle of Jack Daniel's was sitting on the counter and to be honest, Nathan did feel the urge to once again drown his sorrows, but he shook his head, he had work to do tonight and that was not going to help get it done. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, grabbed his takeout and headed to his office. He hesitated as he went through the living room, he noticed, back in the corner, beside the fireplace, a guitar was once again set up on the guitar stand. He walked over to it, as there as a note attached. The note read "for when you're ready - Dwight". He made a mental note to thank Dwight later.

Nathan continued into his office where he cleared off his desk and a whiteboard he had in the corner. Then he got to work, writing down everything he recalled from the day the barn took everyone away. Starting with Howard - what Howard had said when Audrey and he were in the barn,

His talk with James, how James though that Lucy had killed him, to save herself, that he didn't know that Lucy had gone into the barn. James telling Nathan that on that day, someone had come up behind him and hit him over the head – he didn't know who. Why would anyone have wanted to kill his son?

He also started a list of the people with troubles and how they were helped (or not) based on his memory. There were three things that immediately jumped out at him and they all centred on James - who killed James, the Colorado Kid? Was there another way to end the troubles? Everything had indicated that there was another way, but Audrey had come out of the barn saying James was wrong. Now that he thought back on it, did Audrey think James was wrong or did she just not like what he had to say?

Tomorrow at the station he would go back through all the old files so that he could add to the list and he would go through the files from '83 when Lucy was around to see if he could find anything about the troubles cases.

Nathan knew enough to not try and sleep before he was absolutely exhausted otherwise his mind would just focus on Audrey and missing her. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her face before she went into the barn and it broke his heart everytime. It was well into the wee hours of the morning when Nathan finally went up to bed. He realized this was the first time he was actually sleeping in his bed since he could feel again. It didn't really matter, as he was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

_There is a little boy playing with some toy cars on a kitchen floor, a woman has her back to the little boy, she is at the kitchen counter preparing dinner. The woman looks familiar, but he doesn't know where from. Somewhere else in the house, the front door slams, the woman stiffens at the sound and the little boy looks up with a terrified look on his face. The woman turns around quickly and tells the little boy to be a very good boy and be quiet. The woman looking down at the little boy is his mother and the look in her eyes is one of fear.__  
_  
Once again Nathan wakes up with a start from the same dream, this time it's the alarm clock waking him up at 7:00 am. The number of times he has had this dream he knows it can't be a coincidence, it seems more like a memory but he doesn't recall anything like this actually happening. Just another of the mysteries of Haven to figure out.

Nathan heads into the office as soon as he is ready.

Not long after he gets in, Dave and Dwight stop by.

Dave starts the conversation, "Nathan, we hate to bring this up, but some decisions need to be made about Duke and Audrey."

Nathan looks at Dave with a cold stare and responds with controlled hostility. "They're coming back".

Dave hastily responds, realizing Nathan is taking this the wrong way. "No, no, we know they are coming back, and we are trying to make sure that it isn't in 27 years, but in the meantime, some decisions need to be made."

Nathan calms down and nods for Dave to continue.

What do you want to do about Duke's boat and the Grey Gull?

Nathan wasn't sure he should be making these decisions for Duke, but since he had gone into the barn to save Audrey at his request, the only thing he could do was do his best to take care of his things until he returned. He owed him at least that.

"Let Beatty know I will pay the mooring charges and any other charges to keep the Cape Rouge docked and see if she can arrange to check on it on a regular basis. Dwight, what sort of repairs do you think need to be done to the Grey Gull?"

Dwight joined in the conversation. "Other than the windows broken on the main floor it doesn't look too bad, but the damage to Audrey's apartment is more extensive and that will need to be fixed before the Gull will be back in working order."

Just thinking about all of this was starting to give him a headache. "I'll go over and clean out Audrey's place so that they can start work on the repairs. Dave, once the Gull is back in shape can you see if Tracy Garrick will manage the Gull in Duke's absence? I believe Duke was happy with her work as manager when he wasn't around."

"I'll take care of it Nathan. Do you want help cleaning out Audrey's place?"

"No, I'll take care of it"

Dave and Dwight left to take care of things and Nathan flopped back in his chair. He wasn't looking forward to going through all of Audrey's things, but he certainly wasn't going to leave it for someone else to do. Hopefully it would be a relatively quiet day and he could it get it done quickly.


End file.
